Birthplace of ice cream: Persians are believed to have introduced the art of frozen desserts

Ever wondered where the ice cream we happily slurp came from? While the exact origin is unknown, history traces the arrival of ice cream in Europe and then America by the way of Arab invasion of Sicily in the 8th century.

It is believed that Arabs who had conquered Persian Empire at the time took the age-old Persian refreshment called Sharbat and enriched the existing mix of fruit syrup and snow chilled honey with milk and sugar. This was the conception of the modern day granita and gelato.

Persia, that is modern-day Iran has been making ice cream for the last 2,000 years. Yakchal, a cone-shaped structure in the country is believed to be the inspiration for the design of ice cream. The underground space of the building was used for storing ice cream around 400 BC as the heat-resistant material of the structure helped preserve it.

Iranians used to and still relish an ice cream dessert called faloodeh that is made ofstarch and syrup with ice. In the past, ice was stored in big bowls and milk in smaller ones and by rotational motions, the cold was transferred from ice to milk. This process helped the milk turn into crystals and then, finally, into ice cream.

It is believed that this process then travelled to Itlay, who made machines to make ice cream making easier.

A traditional Iranian ice cream contains sheep’s milk, sugar, saffron and rose water. If you are feeling ambitious and want to try your own version of Iranian ice cream, here are a few recipes.